Sorry, the wallabies are a bit shy at the moment.
Anyway, I'm Bjorn from Australia (Tasmania to be specific), and I've just found myself accidentally buying a BBC micro on gumtree, hehe!
It hasn't arrived yet (I literally just clicked the bank transfer button a few minutes ago!), but I'm quite excited, having very fond memories of these machines from when I was quite young.
I've recently had a resurgent interest in vintage computers, (I've been an on-and-off hobbyist for as long as I can remember), but I was actually moreso looking for a Commodore or old IBM machine. But this thing popped up at the right price, and despite my lady-friend's protests I couldn't help myself!

I'm not sure if it's an A or B (although from what I've read it's probably a B), and apparently it hasn't been powered on in 15 years.
Still, for the price I paid for it I don't think I'll mind if it starts smoking when I power it on. Part of the reason for the purchase was as a project, so if I have something to fix then all the better! (As long as it's not a towering inferno...)

Anyway, it comes with nothing but the unit itself (no tape drive, disk drive, monitor, software, etc.), so I have to start assembling a few bits and pieces before I can do anything with it.
Hope I can get some pointers from the forums!

Tasmania, eh? I have some educational software released by the Department of Education and Arts in Tasmania. I wonder if the organisation still exists?

I moved here from the mainland only fairly recently, so I can't say for sure, but it seems they changed their name in 1996, and a couple more times since then. Now it's just the Department of Education. It's a government organisation - I'd be quite concerned if it didn't exist any more

Last edited by Bworp on Sun Sep 16, 2018 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

Welcome, glad you found us.
You can also relive some of your memories over at bbcmicro.co.uk if you haven't found it yet.
The worst thing about the smoking caps is the smell they leave in the beeb, and it only takes about 1/2 an hour to change them (at least once you've done a few ). It also gives the other half, one less aspect to complain about.
I've actually just published a Youtube video of me doing one (also a rotated one), its not really a tutorial, but would give you some idea of what you would be in for.
Another simple project (if you have an eprom programmer) is an "MMC" which allows a memory card to be used with hundreds of disc images on it. You can build one yourself for ~£3 or buy one from ebay for about £30 or various people on here will provide one for somewhere in between (inc me ). There are many other options including a GOTEK if your beeb has a working disc interface or some much more advanced options - see the retro hardware list around here.

Last edited by tricky on Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well yes, I actually coloured my avatar to match the Tasmanian Masked Owl (as best I could)!

Re: Tricky,

Yes, I certainly half expect to need to do a repair on the power supply, although it would be a nice surprise if mine doesn't blow up haha! It's just the kind of project I'm after.
I'm sure your video will come in very useful!

Just a quick update and question:
Apparently my beeb should be arriving about Wednesday. I'm just wondering if anybody can point me in the right direction for some resources on what kind of cables, adaptors etc. I'll need to be able to get it to run on a regular TV?
I'd like to source something more appropriately vintage eventually. I gather that there were monitors made specifically for it, but I don't like my chances of tracking one down in the short term, so is there anything specifically I should look for in a display?
Cheers!

Just a quick update and question:
Apparently my beeb should be arriving about Wednesday. I'm just wondering if anybody can point me in the right direction for some resources on what kind of cables, adaptors etc. I'll need to be able to get it to run on a regular TV?
I'd like to source something more appropriately vintage eventually. I gather that there were monitors made specifically for it, but I don't like my chances of tracking one down in the short term, so is there anything specifically I should look for in a display?
Cheers!

The good news is that the Beeb give you three options out of the box: RGB output at TTL levels (through a DIN socket), composite video through a BNC connector, and UHF modulated output on a coaxial connector.

The UHF option would only be relevant is you have an old analogue television set. The RGB option will require a specialist cable, but gives the best video output.

If you have a television which accepts composite input on an RCA socket, that's probably the easiest way to get going quickly. You'll need to buy a BNC to RCA adapter, and an RCA cable if you don't already have one. (The BNC connector was used in professional equipment at the time, and the RCA was uncommon in the UK back then. Hence the unusual connector.) The Composite output is monochrome by default, but is easily modified for colour output. For later boards you just fit a jumper link (S39) on the board near the BNC socket, for earlier ones, you need to solder one capacitor on.